‘Down to the wire’: SA mayors jet off to Brazil ahead of final COP31 bid
Three South Australian leaders are en route to Rio de Janeiro for a major gathering of mayors, ahead of a final lobbying effort for Adelaide to host a global climate conference.
Adelaide Lord Mayor Dr Jane Lomax-Smith left for Brazil today for a gathering of global mayors who want to take action on climate change.
Onkaparinga Mayor Moira Were and Mitcham Mayor Heather Holmes-Ross – also the LGA President – were set to fly out tomorrow to join Lomax-Smith at the C40 World Mayors Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, just days before global United Nations climate conference COP30 commences in Belém on November 10.
The C40 World Mayors Summit in Rio brings together mayors from nearly 100 cities, and this year’s Summit would kick off the COP30 Local Leaders Forum, which would showcase city-led solutions on climate change.
Lomax-Smith was also set to attend COP30 in Brazil later in November, where she would continue her lobbying efforts for Adelaide to host the major climate conference in 2026. Federal Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen would also be at the event.
The South Australian mayors would be joined by Melbourne Lord Mayor Nicholas Reece, Hobart Lord Mayor Anna Reynolds and a representative for the Sydney Lord Mayor.
Lomax-Smith would be accompanied by three members of staff on the two-week trip, with a spokesperson noting the City of Adelaide was paying for two attendees, with philanthropic support provided for the other team members on the two-week trip.
“My ambition for my travel to Brazil for COP30 is twofold. To do my best to advocate for Australia, and therefore Adelaide, to be the host of COP31 in 2026, and to reinforce to leaders from around the world that Adelaide and South Australia are leaders in responding to the world’s climate challenge and we want to share our knowledge and experience,” Lomax-Smith told InDaily.
The state government had yet to decide on whether to send any ministerial representation to Belém, but a spokesperson said a “small number” of state government representatives would travel to COP30.
You might like
“Both to engage in the event and examine it from a logistical and planning perspective,” he said.
“This will provide valuable insights to assist preparations in the event Adelaide is selected as the host city for COP31.”
Holmes-Ross would not be travelling on to COP30 in Belém, but Mayor Were would be attending and would personally cover the costs of her travel from Rio to Belem.
| Sponsored |
Either Adelaide or Türkiye would host COP31 in November next year, but Australia’s rival was yet to concede and ramped up its lobbying for the conference at recent meetings in Bonn, Germany, where it announced its host city: Antalya. Last year’s event in Azerbaijan attracted more than 50,000 people to the nation’s capital Baku.
The host for 2026 must be decided with consensus from UN member countries, which Australia is one of, but if no decision was made by November, then the host city reverts to Bonn.
Speaking to InDaily from Copenhagen, Premier’s Climate Change Council chair and former Adelaide Lord Mayor Martin Haese said a resolution on the 2026 host city was expected to come later in November.
Haese – who would not be attending COP30 – said negotiations between the Australian and Turkish governments over the host city rights would continue in Brazil.
“It is highly likely, if not entirely likely, that the decision will be announced probably towards the end of COP30,” he said.
Stay informed, daily
“I suspect those negotiations will go right down to the wire.
“Both countries, for very good reasons, are desirous to be the host. It puts an international spotlight on that country and on that city, not just for 12 days but for 12 months.”
He said Adelaide was “odds on” as the favourite to host COP31, “and there seems to be an international sentiment that Australia should be the host”.
“But unfortunately, the process doesn’t quite work like that,” said Haese, who had attended three COPs in the past.
“It really will come down to an agreement, if not a negotiation, between the Federal Government of Australia and the government of Turkey, and that’ll have to come to a head in Belém or Rio.
“Obviously, if Adelaide was the host city, it would have an absolutely significant reputational, economic, cultural, social, tourism and environmental impact and all of that would be very positive. It’s truly a global event and the sheer volume of people that come from virtually every country around the world really puts the whole city on centre stage.”
Speaking on her return from New York City where she addressed a forum at New York Climate Week, the Lord Mayor said Adelaide was “the hot favourite” to secure the event that would see Adelaide “in every newscast around the world”.
“We will have a huge number of visitors and it will have a big impact in terms of national agendas,” she said.
Progress on new sister city to be made in Rio
While in Rio, Lomax-Smith would meet Athens Mayor Haris Doukas early next week to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two city councils.
The MoU agrees that the cities will cooperate across culture, tourism, city resilience, and environmental protection.
Lomax-Smith told councillors on Tuesday it was “an extraordinary initiative” and thanked councillor Mary Couros for her work on the relationship since visiting Athens in 2023.
The move to strengthen the cities’ relationships followed the support of Adelaide’s Greek community, which would like to see Adelaide and Athens become sister cities in the future.
“Adelaide looks forward to further developing our relationship with the capital of Greece,” Lomax-Smith told InDaily.
“It is opportune that I can join my Athens counterparty in Brazil, where we can sign the Memorandum of Understanding between our two cities,” she said.
